by Rie Warren
“Girlfriend! I didn’t know you were into anal too.” Phil chuckled. “You know I’m all about the LGBTQ.”
“Bull and shit. You can’t be all those things at the same time. You’re a lipstick lesbian, a dyke who occasionally likes a side of dick.”
“Unless I’m wearing my strap-on. And I guess you can just keep on having your vagina monologues since you’re clearly never getting laid again.”
“I hate that word.” I shuddered.
“Vagina? What about peeenis?” She gave her trademark cackle.
“A cock is a cock is a cock.”
“Speaking of cocks, can’t you just pull Rafe already for a threesome and I can get some of your sweetness finally?”
“In your dreams, Phil.”
“Every night, sugar.”
My best friend was a lesbian who liked to hit on me every so often, probably because she thought I’d never bite. My love life was a shambles. My dream man was an unapologetic player, and I really was gonna fire his fine ass . . .
“Listen”—Phil’s voice lowered—“I can come over later. Hang out. I won’t even put the moves on you.”
“I’m good.”
“You sure? Because I know you’re in your dad’s office right now, drinking his booze, and the team you just took over tanked bigtime.”
“You’re gonna make me tear up over here, Phil.”
“I’m serious, girl.”
“I know.” I dropped my head onto the back of the seat, shutting my eyes. “I’ll be okay, hon.”
“And you’ll call me if you’re not.”
“And I’ll call you if I’m not.”
“Okay. Holla back at me tomorrow.”
“Hey!” I leaned an elbow on my desk. “Remember to wrap that dildo if you use it on someone tonight.”
“Abso. Safe sex with the fake peeeenis.”
“You’re such a whore.”
“And you’re almost revirginized, Mary.”
“G’night now.”
“Hang the fuck up already.”
Smiling, I clicked the phone off. I tossed it into my bag, rising as a commotion in the parking lot drew me to the huge bank of windows. Rafe surrounded by the rest of the team, roughhousing and laughing it up like they’d just made it to the postseason playoffs instead of getting their asses handed to them on the field.
Loud voices, the usual lewd comments I could hear even through the solid windows, then the even louder roar of sports cars, huge trucks, expensive SUVs, and custom bikes. Then they raced from the parking lot, zigzagging for pole position, windows rolled down, music pumping from the vehicles at the same rate as their good-natured insults.
Despite the shit day, I smiled.
Boys.
Pfft.
Except they weren’t boys at all. They were grown men. Hard-muscled hunks. Highly talented football players.
One in particular.
Three
Mac Daddy
Peyton
RAFE MACINTYRE. SEEING HIM again face-to-face was inevitable. I hadn’t expected the insta-reaction, though.
Over the years during my visits home, I’d remained in the owner’s box whenever I made it to a game. Even when I was back in Nashville working for a competing team, I’d always kept my eye on the Crush, paying close attention to my dad’s three-deep roster and the players who got sold off or brought in. From afar, I’d never lost sight of the fact the team might someday be mine. I just hadn’t expected the life changing turn of events to happen so soon.
No doubt Rafe Macintyre was one to watch just as Coach D said. He always had been. The man had an arm rarely outplayed and aim unmatched, and his magic fingers . . .
Goddamn Rafe. Hunky. Gorgeous. He had star quality but was down to earth. An incredible fuck you wanted on repeat until your bedroom reeked of wild sex and you passed out with him between your legs. Even if he forgot all about it the next morning . . .
Or so I'd heard.
Damn Rafe Macintyre. The sexy asshole with the unforgettable green eyes and built body, the tats and his cocky grin, and the too-long tousled black hair.
The reputation.
The multimillion dollar contract.
As I peered out the windows, the last player pulled out of the parking lot with a rebel yell, and I slipped my heels back on. I put a blazer over my shoulders, buttoned up, and left my bra dangling off the edge of the desk.
At the conference room door, I patted my hair, brandished my iPad, then stepped inside.
Coach D sat at the long oval table joined by Frank from the offensive team, Sam the defensive coordinator, Mark the QB coach, Lou the GM, and Dick, our head scout.
I slid copies of my proposal like poker chips across the table. “I think it’s time to shake this shit up, men.”
Dick took one look at the photocopies then slammed the folder to the table. “No fucking way.”
I tapped a finger against my iPad. “Other option? I could sell. Tonight.”
Coach D sat with his fingers steepled at his chin.
“I’ll call your bluff, Peyton.” Lou was known for being a hothead, and he hadn’t gotten this far for nothing.
But neither had I.
“I’ll fire you too, Lou.”
“When the fuck did you grow a set of balls instead of boobs?” Dick asked.
“The boobs have always been here.” Leaning away from the table, I motioned to my crotch. “My testicles dropped years ago thanks to my dad, Dickless, so I’m not looking for a vote. I don’t need your say-so, and I don’t give two fucks if you all agree.
“This is what next season looks like for the Crush.” I stabbed another finger down on the spread-out photos of new key players for our team.
“That has-been?” Lou scowled, just his normal everyday expression. “Cross was put out to pasture last season.”
“Fuck Deacon Cross. What about Calder Malone? No one in the league’s touching him! He’s not fit to be a center lineman anymore—he’s a goddamn certified druggie. Jesus Christ, Peyton.” Frank ripped the paper full of stats in two. “He’s been branded and blackballed.”
“Not anymore. It’s time to take some risks. Employ some outlaw players no one would ever expect.” My phone chimed, but I ignored it.
Cruising around the conference room, I stopped briefly behind each man who thought he knew this team better than me. “We’re bringing back the old and giving new life.”
“Vets and rookies?” Lou flipped through the folder before slamming his fist down. “You want Luke Buckley to front this?”
“He’s first string,” I said.
“He’s first string at Loser U in Nebraska!”
“I don’t give a shit, Lou.” It was on the tip of my tongue to call the ornery man who was shaped like a walrus Lou-ser, but I held myself in check. Barely. “He’s got an epic arm, and you know it. We need someone just in case Rafe gets injured or can’t step up like we need him to.”
Lord knows I have experience in that regard.
Making my way to my chair, I stared around the room. “And have you seen Malone’s stats? He fucked up for a second. Got caught with pot. So what? Everyone deserves a second chance.” And Calder Malone was only the beginning.
“Christ, Peyton.” Lou chomped on the end of his pen like he wanted to bite the thing in half like a chicken neck.
“You don’t have to agree with me. Just train ’em up and cash your huge checks.” We needed new talent, enough to rebuild that deep roster, one we could feed from and fire up the other men with.
Vets. Rookies. Loose cannons.
I hadn’t gone completely crazy.
Three players—some with mileage, some screeched to a stop at the starting blocks.
After the initial bluster and blatant disagreement, the meeting went better than expected. I’d discovered power, sue me. I also struggled back into my bra once in my office, no one the wiser.
It’d been one long day. An even longer night.
Lights shi
ned inside the house I’d just bought in Mt. Pleasant when I pulled up outside. Nothing too fancy, too big, or too flashy. Completely downhome style and lowcountry welcoming.
By the time I hit the brakes in the driveway, I wanted only one thing.
A soft hug.
A sloppy kiss.
The big eyes.
A new day.
I walked through the front door, barely dropping my bag before he swung from the bottom stairs and straight into my waiting arms.
“Mommy!”
Four
Deep Woods
Rafe
MONTHS AFTER THAT FUCKED-UP final game against the Devils, I was still deep in my natural habitat. Not under the bright lights partying it up with celebs or inside the big mega-million-dollar football stadiums. Definitely not attending red carpet events with a supermodel on my arm, and I for sure wasn’t barricaded inside a monstrosity of a mansion.
Hell no.
I was entrenched in my cabin in Cashiers, North Carolina. The log cabin, nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, overlooked an endless early summertime vista of green and gold and blue.
I’d forgotten about the red and white, the Carolina Crush, and all things South Carolina—including one woman in particular—for five hibernating months. Tried to, anyway.
I’d grown out my beard and had a new uniform—flannel shirts and old jeans or raggedy shorts—screw shaving twice a day and wearing custom-tailored suits or the team gear.
Back to nature.
Hiking trails, swinging an ax daily to keep the woodpile stocked even though it was getting too warm to stoke the fireplace—shit, the dudes should’ve called me Paul Bunyan, not Akoni’s defensive partner in crime, Paul Biggs.
Okay, not like I was going completely fucking granola. My cabin of two thousand square feet was totally blinged out. I was hooked up to satellite WiFi, and the sauna was as big as the bathroom we’d had when I was growing up, the Jacuzzi on the deck overlooking the mountains the size of a small pool.
What I liked best about being off the ESPN grid was the anonymity. The peace and fucking quiet.
Mostly.
But even stacking cords of wood daily, burning off energy by hiking through the deep woods, slogging through mud to reach my favorite stream couldn’t clear my brain of one particular moment that had multiplied over and over in my head.
It wasn’t that last intercepted pass during the Devils game.
Not the fact we’d scored a measly 14 to their 35, thereby getting shut out.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Peyton Fox.
It had to be her hair. The color of autumn leaves—dark red, lustrous even. Or the way she smelled. Something light—feminine and sexy. Could’ve been her eyes. Because they could be so soft brown, deep and curious, sometimes even richer than velvety black.
But it definitely wasn’t the way she smiled, because the last time I’d seen her she preferred the angry snarl, gritted gleaming teeth and all.
Probably well deserved.
Probably all my fault.
Peyton Fox.
Such a bad idea.
Such a good goddamn feeling she seeped into my bones, into my being, into my memory.
See, I’d met this woman the night I was drafted by the Carolina Crush. Biggest fucking contract of my life. Twenty-two years old, the star quarterback for the USC Gamecocks, and on the verge of getting my sports management degree—just for a fallback option.
Courted by scouts from the Washington Whalers, the Austin Angels, and—yup, you guessed it—even the Denver Devils, I’d decided I wanted to stay on home turf. Carolina all the way.
The whole signing thing—what a fucking rush. The live announcement. Standing room only auditorium with my college coaches, team, and sportscasters from across the country cheering me on.
The new jersey—number 32 put into service just for me for the number of years my folks had been married. The congratulations. The frigging confetti and balloons and my mom on stage with me.
The first time I’d seen the girl. Practically the last.
At the booming afterparty at Rancho del Fox, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The massive celebration rolled on around me but no amount of fanfare cut through the attraction spinning between us. When she’d beckoned me with a smile and a wink it was no surprise I’d followed, leaving the noisy crowd behind.
She found a bedroom, and my hands were in her hair, my mouth slanted across hers before we even crossed the threshold.
We’d hooked up.
Fucked hard.
Gotten hot and sweaty. Naked and naughty. Rough and raunchy.
Her kisses had blown my mind apart. And the number she did on my cock . . . That juicy mouth sliding up and down, the way her gaze locked on mine when she lifted her plump lips off my thick dick head to lick me one last time before I’d groaned and come.
Her soft body writhing beneath my calloused hands and her pink nipples turning brighter with every lick from my tongue, every bite from my teeth.
Then her legs—long and curvy—hiked around my hips. Her hands clenched in my hair. Mine cupping her ass to draw her into every long stroke.
The second time we fucked I’d slammed into her from behind, those deep red tresses curled tightly in my fist so I could watch the insane angle of her sexy back as I belted in and out.
The bedroom was a disaster area after the third round of premium fucking. She’d snuffled in a cute way, curling up to me on the big bed, half the covers and almost all the pillows on the floor from when we’d torn it up.
The bedroom, in Mr. Fox’s house.
I’d slipped silently from beneath the cuddling woman—the gorgeous girl. It only took one look at the photo on her dresser to realize she wasn’t gonna end up as some random fuck buddy.
Could’ve ruined my just-starting career, and my agent didn’t even have to give me an earful to tell me just how much deep shit I could be in.
I’d reached for my jeans to make a clean-enough getaway when my cell started buzzing in the pocket.
“What?” I’d answered, my voice low so as not to wake sleeping beauty.
“Where the fuck are you?”
Aaand of course it’d been my agent, the snake charmer named Serena Dixon.
Serene the woman was not.
“I went for a walk.” I buttoned my shirt with one hand.
“YOU WENT FOR A WALK?” she’d screeched. “Biggest goddamn night of your life and you—”
“Needed to blow off some steam.” I’d looked back to the soft body snuggled in the big bed.
Something sure had gotten blown.
My fucking mind not to mention my body.
“Get your fifteen million-dollar ass back to chez motherfucking Fox ASAP, Rafe,” Serena had hissed.
“Can do.”
Jesus.
She hadn’t known I was still in the house, silently opening the door and slipping into the hall while raking my hands through my hair.
The next day I’d pretended I didn’t remember a goddamn thing.
Not a single thing. For five plus years running.
We’d won the Super Bowl in 2012.
Contract incentives and bonuses all around.
Women on both arms and practically wrapped around my legs—not to mention my highly insured fingers—whenever I went out.
My bad reputation well deserved from my younger, wilder days.
Aaaand back to the deep, deep woods—and please fuck off with the deep, deep thoughts already.
The dudes all thought I was busy getting laid on the regular, getting my nuts drained, my hose wet . . .
If only they knew.
Maybe the place would’ve been lonely. Not possible with the wriggly body next to me in the bed in my Blue Ridge cabin.
Five
Deep Shit
Rafe
LIV SNORED.
She drooled, too. On my pillow and hers.
She must’ve had weird-as-shit dreams because sh
e kicked out with bony arms and twiggy legs all night long.
And she always woke me up way too frigging early in the morning.
I tried to roll over quietly, taking a corner of the sheet with me, because Liv, the bed hog who snored like a freight train, woke up on a hairpin trigger, and the birds hadn’t even started chirping outside yet.
Fuck my life, as soon as I slipped onto my back, Liv popped up like a janky-haired jack-in-the-box, shouting, “Who? Who did it?”
“Oh. Fuckin’ A, Liv.” I crossed an arm over my face. “Too early and you need to stop watching whodunnits on Masterpiece Theatre. You’re eleven, for God’s sakes. Miss Marple is not cool.”
“Swear jar! And Miss Marple? Pffft. Mom and me been watchin’ the new Sherlock Holmes series. Duh.” Eye roll, aaaand she yelled way to close to my ear.
Eyes scrunched tight, trying to shut my ears off, too, I scrabbled through the loose change on the bedside table before locating a crumpled bill. It better not be a tenner. I shoved it in my little sister’s general direction.
“I’m putting a lock on my door today,” I grumbled, sleep deprived. Not for any good reason either.
Liv. My sister.
Loved her.
But wished she had a mute button.
She had nightmares.
Who didn’t?
So sometimes she ended up in my bed. The least I could do since I was her only father figure. She’d been a massive midlife surprise for our folks—not a planned pregnancy at all, not that our parents ever regretted having her sixteen years after me. But our dad died before she’d even turned one, and that was part of the reason I’d cleaned up my act. So I could be a better role model for her.
No more easy lays for me, not when Liv and my mom could hook up to the internet or tune into TMZ anytime they wanted for an update on my love-lust life.
I took care of her every chance I could. Wasn’t a hardship. And my mom deserved a break from all the shit that was life.
